History of the Units

Thirty years after the fact, this "lost" San Francisco band sounds like it's imitating Devo; in its day, the group was wholly original and often compelling.

"Fuck the guitars," blurts the anonymous author of the liner notes for History of the Units. "I was sick of the sameness, the lack of choice. I wanted to start my own game." Lofty goals to be sure, and perhaps an exaggeration of this San Francisco band's accomplishments. It's debatable whether their rejection of guitars in favor of synths in the late 1970s actually broke molds (though their habit of cutting guitar shapes out of plywood and smashing them at shows was certainly novel).But it's also not very important. What matters is the energy and commitment the Units brought to their electro-futurist post-punk.

Whether doling out tight melodies, atmospheric instrumentals, or freer experiments, the Units attacked everything with an intensity that matched their sloganeering. On History of the Units-- a collection of singles, demos, and tracks from their debut LP Digital Stimulation-- their synths don't sound like guitars, but they pack as much sonic punch as any six-string. And their lyrical warnings about conformity and materialism-- "This is a generation of cannibals!" they sing in the pounding "Cannibals"-- come in a monotone bark, mimicking what they saw as a society of unthinking robots.

Listening 30 years after the fact, you might think the Units were mimicking something more specific-- Devo. The vocal similarities are undeniable, and certain songs could've been written by either group. Take "Bugboy", a stuttering tune about a kid who "liked to torture bugs" that's like a parallel version of "Mongoloid". But the Units happened at the same time thousands of miles away, so it's doubtful that there was much cross-influence. Besides, their sci-fi synths were more forward-looking. Often it sounds like they knew video games were right around the corner, and were crafting potential soundtracks.

But the best Units songs push the hypnosis of synth-loops into the realm of irresistible melody. "High Pressure Days" marries a scratchy beat to cautions about the isolating influence of technology. "We're all moving pretty fast these days," they chant. "It's awful hard to hang onto each other... exchange phone numbers, wither away." The chugging "i Night" sounds like the Advantage playing protest punk, while "Digital Stimulation" evokes Theremin-happy horror films. The group could stretch out too-- check "East West 2", whose lo-fi bleeps sound like a Raymond Scott experiment, or "I-5", whose polyrhythms conjure visions of Brian Eno honing the group's worldly leanings the way he did with Talking Heads. That kind of diversity makes History of the Units more than a sliver of post-punk history. It's the kind of reissue that makes you wonder why the music was ever out of print.